Sixteen state legislators took a tour of UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health on Wednesday, where they heard about pressing issues across North Carolina.

The lawmakers, plus three representatives from the House and Senate leaders’ offices, heard remarks from UNC President Tom Ross and others, and were given presentations on a variety of topics: rural hospitals, municipal water supplies, military families, improving stroke care and combating prescription drug overdoses.

The event was also something of a sales pitch to emphasize to lawmakers how valuable UNC-Chapel Hill’s research is, particularly in its employment of more than 4,000 people in most parts of the state, with 90 percent of its funding coming from outside North Carolina.

There was no advance public notice of the field trip. A spokesman for Gillings said it was an informal event that was organized on short notice.

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